OUR VIEW: We can’t drop our guard now, Surrey

Surrey city manager Vincent Lalonde noted in a recent report to council that the COVID-19 Compliance and Enforcement Team has witnessed “strong compliance” in this city with the provincial medical health officer’s directions related to the pandemic, at 99.2 per cent.

This is, of course, encouraging.

Still, it’s safe to say most – if not all – of us have in recent weeks noticed first-hand people out on sidewalks, in parks, and especially in supermarkets, thumbing their nose at the concept of social distancing.

Is this a product of ignorance, a lack of education, momentary absent-mindedness, or worse, a lack of consideration for others?

Perhaps most space invaders, and there are plenty, would change their behavior if they saw an official in an uniform heading their way.

It seems as though some people have simply grown impatient with the pandemic, and in their yearning for better days have dropped their guard and are carrying on as though it was all just a bad dream.

Fact is, it’s a nightmare. A nightmare for families who have lost a loved one to this dreadful disease, for families who will experience this, not to mention doctors and nurses who are literally risking their lives in the war against the coronavirus. And it will of course be a nightmare for people who have yet to find themselves fighting for their life because of COVID-19.

If we want a happy Hollywood ending, it’s not going to happen by itself. We need to work for it, work hard. Earn it.

If we drop our guards now, we will surely see another wave of infections on the horizon.